Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-05-14

2Father, It Is black one" said voice.
aWhat said Hhe-who-mustb e-obeyed about
the black oneF'
"she said naught. but slay him not. Como
hither, my SON"
The man advanced. and the tall, shadowy
form bent forward.
ayes, yes,p said the other, and chuclled In
a somewhat blood curdling tome
"Aro tho three white men therep aszed the
form.
"Yes, they arc there1
"Then bring up that which Is made ready
for them, and let the men take all that can be
brought from tho thing that floats"
Hardly had be spoken when men came run
ming up, carrying on their shoulders neither
more nor less than palanquins--f bearers
and two spare men TO palanquin--nnd In
these II was promptly indicated we were ex-
pected 10 stow ourselves.
"Well,p said Leo, sit is a blessing to find
anybody to carry us after having TO carry
ourselves 30 long"
Leo always takes cheerful view Of things.
There being no help for IL, after seeing tho
others into theirs, tumbled into my own lit
ter, and very comfortable found 1t. 1t APP
peared to 10 manufactured of cloth woven
from grass fiber, which stretched and yielded
to every motion of the body, and being bound
top and bottom TO the bearing pole gave
grateful support TO the head and neck
Scarcely had / settled myself when, accom-
panying their steps with monotonous song,
the bearers started at a swinging trot. For
half an hour or SO l lay there rejecting on
the very remarkable experiences that we
were going through, and wondering II any Of
my eminently respectable fossil friends down
at Cambridge would believe me IL / were TO
be miraculously set ct the familiar dinner
table for tho purpose of relating them. /
don't want 10 convey any disrespectful notion
or slight when call those good and learned
gentlemen fossils, but my experience is that
people are apt TO fossilize even at an univer-
sity ii they follow the same paths too per-
sistently. l was getting fossilized myself, but
of lato my stock of ideas has been very much
enlarged. Well, | lay and reflected, and
wondered what on earth would be the end
of it all, till at last / ceased to wonder and
went to sleep
| / suppose / must have slept for seven or
eight hours getting the first real rest that
had had since the night before the loss of tho
dhow, for when woke the sun was high in
tho heavens. We were still journeying on at
a-pace Of about four miles an hour. Peepng
out through the mistlike curtains Of tho
litter, which were ingeniously fixed to the
bearing pole, perceived, to my infinite re-
lief, that we had passed out of the region OF
etaErml swamp and were now travelling over
swelling, grassy plains toward cup shaped
hill Whether or not It was the same hill
that we had seen from the canal do not
know and have never since been able TO dis
cover, for, as we afterward found out, these
people will give little information upon such
points. Next glanced at the men who were
bearing me. They were of a magnificent
build, mono Of them being under 9 feet in
height, and yellowish In color. Generally
their appearance had good deal In common
with that of the East African Somali, but
their hair was not frizzed up, and hung in
thick black locks upon their shoulders. Their
features were aquiline, and In many cases ex
ceedingly handsome, the teeth being especi
ally regular and beautiful. But notwith
standing their beauty, it struck me that, OF
the whole, had never seen more evil look
ing set Of faces. There was an aspect of colo
and sullen cruelty stamped upon them tina
revolted me, and which in some cases wa
almost uncanny in its intensity.
Another thing that struck me about then
was that they never seemed to SMILE Some
times they sung the lnonotonous song O
which l have spoken, but when they were no
singing they remained almost perfectly silent
and the light of a laugh never came Il
brighten their somber and evil faces o
what race could these people bel Their Ian
guage was bastard Arabic, and yet the,
were not Arabs; | was quite sure of that
For one thing, they were too dark, or rathe
yellow. l could not say why, but knev
that their appearance filed me with scl
fear, of which felt ashamed While wa
still wondering, another litter came up along
side of mine. In it-for the curtains wer
drawn-sat an old man clothed in whitisl
robe, made apparently from coarse linen
that hung loosely about him, who, at ono
jumped to the conclusion, was the shadow,
figure that had stood on the bank and bcel
! addressed as "Father" He was wonderful
looking old man, with snowy beard SO lon;
that the ends of it hung over the sides Of th
litter, and no had a hooked nose, above which
flashed out pair of eyes as keen as snakes
while his whole countenance was instinc
: with look Of wise and sardonic humor i'm
possible to describe on paper.
"AIt thou awake, stranger9" he said, in
deep and low voice.
"Surely, my father" answered, courte
ously, feeling certain that should do well Il
; conciliate this ancient Mammon Of Upright
eousness.
He stroked his beautiful white beard anC
l smiled family.
: "From whatever country thou CONTEST" h
said, land, by the way, it must be from on
where somewhat of our language is known
r they teach their children courtesy there, m,
, stranger son. And now wherefore comes
! thou unto this land, which scarce an aliei
foot has pressed from the time that maj
, knowethl Art thou and those with thee wear,
t of lifew
ave came to find new things" I answered
, boldly. "We are tired Of the old things; W
have come up out of the sea to know tina
Q which Is unknown. We are of a brave rae
3 who fear not death, my very much respecte'
: father-that is, if we can get little fresh in
!. formation before we die"
Y "Humphl" said the old man; shat may b
h true, it is rash to contradict, otherwise
q should say that thou vast lying, my son
n However, dare say that She-who-must-b be
: obeyed will meet thy wishes in the matter"